ESSA

On December 10, 2015 President Obama signed into effect the reauthorization of the 50 year old Elementary and Secondary Education Act known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). ESSA ends a troublesome era of No Child Left Behind where a one-size-fit-all approach to testing, teaching and school improvement dominated our professional landscape placing unrealistic pressures on our most vulnerable students and those who serve them. Watch the signing video.

Under ESSA the responsibilities for school improvement are transferred to the state and local levels greatly reducing federal influences on local school decision making. This change is designed to honor the voice and expertise of those who know the names, strengths and learning needs of the children in their school: parents, teachers, counselors, para educators and administrators, not politicians and corporate lobbyists.

In Wisconsin we must work together to defeat bad ideas, policies, and laws at all levels that do not benefit our students. The Wisconsin Education Association Council is committed to providing its members and partners with the resources needed to take full advantage of implementing the required engagement provisions under the ESSA law. This will help assure a child’s race, income, zip code, disability, home language or background do not determine the quality of education they receive.

Use the WEAC Digital Toolkit to make ESSA work for students in your school:

ARTICLES RELATED TO ESSA:

Governor Walker objected Wednesday to Wisconsin’s education accountability plan drafted by a broad-ranging coalition of education stakeholders and with tremendous input from teachers and education support professionals. “The governor is out of touch with the people of the state,” said WEAC President Ron Martin, an eighth grade teacher who served on Wisconsin’s Equity Council comprised of state residents, parents, educators and public school leaders. The group met for 18 months to create a state education plan that crosses ideological lines and does what’s best for students.
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Kindergarten was designed as an introduction to schooling, and one that should help children discover that learning can be fun. But many believe that kindergarten has become the new first grade, and that pressure on schools to demonstrate student progress, even at the kindergarten level, has led schools to take the playfulness out of kindergarten. This week, Wisconsin Public Radio examined this issue by interviewing Christopher Brown, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction in early childhood education at the University of Texas at Austin, who says that heightened standards have pushed some teachers to forgo the emphasis on play and spend much more time on structured learning, a trend that is exhausting both children and teachers.
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Community schools — which feature integrated student supports, expanded learning time, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership — can be a successful strategy for improving schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). That’s the conclusion of a new research review released at the Community Schools Awards for Excellence Symposium.
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In testimony before Congress Wednesday, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos refused to say she would deny federal funding of private schools that discriminate against students. That, and other responses from DeVos to questioning by members of a House appropriations committee during a review of the Trump administration’s education budget proposal, prompted NEA President Lily Eskelsen García to tweet that DeVos was “throwing students under the bus.” Eskelsen García tweeted that DeVos is still unqualified and still using alternative facts. “We should invest in what makes schools great, the things that build curiosity and instill a love of learning,” she tweeted.
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The Racine Education Association is asking the school board to conduct an audit of testing in the district, including an inventory of all standardized tests, the purpose of the tests, time spent taking each test, and time spent on test preparation. “Beyond the social and emotional damage high-stakes standardized tests have on children, there is also a definite fiscal impact — whether it be the costs of the tests themselves, time lost on teaching and learning, use of technology, etc. — that should be considered as well,” said REA President Angelina Cruz.
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The Assembly on Tuesday has several items on the docket, including a broadband expansion bill, as well as legislation that would give lawmakers direct oversight on how the state plans to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. And the Joint Finance Committee is preparing to begin votes on Monday. Other topics covered in this week’s wrap-up include: voucher accountability, mental health, campus speech, child labor, prevailing wage, school referendums, and more.
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Bill increases state aid for special education and school age parents programs to no less than 33 percent of the school district’s costs … Bill would raise early retirement age from 50 to 52 for protective services employees and from 55 to 60 for general employees, and change the calculation for a participant’s final average earning from the highest 3 years to the highest 5 years … Series of bills introduced to restrict the ability of school districts to win passage of local referendums … Bill would require DPI to first submit its ESSA plan to the Assembly and Senate education committees for approval before it goes to the federal government … Joint Finance Committee to begin state budget deliberations … Senate Education Committee will hold an executive session on bills related to recovery charter schools and a mental health training program.
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In about 2 weeks, Angelina Cruz, a 6th grade social studies and reading and language arts teacher, will attend a meeting she hopes will result in her district taking a hard look at the number of high-stakes, standardized tests students are required to take.
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Teachers throughout the nation feel that there is far too much time spent on testing students, according to this analysis from the Atlantic. On average, it says, teachers estimate spending 14 days preparing students for state-mandated exams, and 12 days for district-mandated exams, and eight in 10 teachers think their students spend too much time taking government-mandated tests.
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After more than 100 meetings across the nation with students, parents, educators, state and local leaders, and other stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Education has released a set of proposed regulations to help states as they rethink their accountability and school improvement systems under the new Every Student Succeeds Act. Whereas No Child Left Behind prescribed top-down interventions for struggling schools, the new proposed regulations provide flexibility for schools and districts to implement locally designed solutions and offer a more holistic approach to measuring a quality education than NCLB’s narrow definition of school success.
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Election Watch:

Former State Superintendent Tony Evers was sworn in Monday as Wisconsin’s 46th governor, and he immediately called for fully funding schools at every level. In his inauguration address, Governor Evers said, “We need to fully fund our public schools at every level, so that every kid in our state has access to a quality education—no matter what the zipcode—from all-day pre-k to our university and technical college systems.” He also reiterated his campaign pledges to make sure health care is affordable and accessible to everyone and to develop “sustainable solutions to our transportation crisis.”
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The bills passed by Republican legislators in their lame-duck power grab have now been sent to the soon-to-be-former governor, who has said he will sign them. For now, continue to email your legislators to let them know you’re still paying attention. And let’s not let anyone forget how the Republicans behaved this month. The next election will be here before you – or they – know it!
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Wisconsin residents made it very clear in 2018 that they stand behind their public schools and will do whatever it takes to support them. After years of state funding reductions by the Republican Legislature and the about-to-be-former Republican governor, voters went to the polls in droves to make up for the lack of state funding by approving a record number of local school referendums. According to a new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, voters this year signed off on a record $2 billion-plus in debt and revenue increases for local schools. The approval rate was 90 percent.
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Wisconsin voters on Tuesday sent a clear message that they strongly support their public schools, passing 19 of the 20 largest local school referendums on the ballot, totaling over $1 billion. Overall, voters statewide approved 77 of the 82 referendums, totaling $1.3 billion. “Voters came out in droves to support their public schools,” said WEAC President Ron Martin. “They passed referendums to make up for what the governor and majority in the Legislature refused to fund, and they elected an educator to lead our state. This is a mandate to make education a priority again in Wisconsin.”
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State Superintendent Tony Evers, a staunchly pro-public education Democrat, is Wisconsin’s new governor, defeating incumbent Republican Scott Walker, long known for his attacks on public schools and educators. Walker called Evers Wednesday afternoon to concede the race. WEAC President Ron Martin applauded WEAC members for their hard work in helping to elect Evers. “Today is filled with possibilities and opportunities, leading us to a better future,” Martin said. “This victory belongs to you. But more importantly, it belongs to our kids.”
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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has taken to calling himself a “pro-education governor” — a laughable claim to educators in the state. Walker cut state funding for K-12 schools by $1.2 billion, has worked hard to expand the state’s private school voucher program that takes money away from public schools, stripped educators and other public workers of collective bargaining rights, and slashed university funding by $250 million. As State Superintendent, Tony Evers has proposed increasing public school funding by $1.4 billion, says he will freeze the school voucher program as a first step toward its eventual phase-out, strongly supports community schools that help meet the needs of students and families in the local community, and plans to place in statute requirements for teacher voice to be part of all education-related decision and policy-making initiatives.
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Wisconsin Superintendent Tony Evers told educators from throughout the state Saturday that, as governor, he will not only provide Wisconsin public schools with the resources they need but he will make sure educators play a key role in determining education policy. “If I do anything in addition to providing more resources for our schools, we must ensure that we return the teachers’ voice at the forefront of the decisions in the state of Wisconsin,” Evers said in an address and rally at the WEAC Professional Issues Conference in Green Bay.
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WEAC has created more election resources than ever before as we approach the critical November 6 election. We have our Elections Resource Page at weac.org/election, and have made it easy for you to find out who WEAC and NEA are recommending in your area, just by going to weac.org/vote. We’ve also created a document at weac.org/clerks with phone numbers of your local clerks so you can call them and find out when early voting hours are in your community. We’ve also created a document at weac.org/opportunities that lists ways you can get involved in the election. Finally, every day, we are gathering news articles and organizing them on our Politics and Elections Board at weac.org/election2018, to help you keep up with the latest news and developments.
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The Clay County Education Association in Florida recently spotted a comment on its Facebook page suggesting that educators should “stay focused on teaching our children and leave the politics out of it.” Their response was epic.
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In an analysis of the Wisconsin governor’s race, the Washington Post says state residents are not buying Scott Walker’s ironic claim that he is the ‘education governor,’ and instead recognize that he has severely cut public school budgets and worked to undermine respect for educators. “Though the election is still a few weeks away and anything can happen, (Democrat Tony) Evers has been leading in recent polls, and Walker’s efforts to recast himself as the ‘education governor’ don’t appear to have convinced his critics. His education ‘reform’ agenda could be coming back to bite him at a time when interest in supporting public education in Wisconsin seems to be growing among many residents at the local level,” the article states.
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A new poll released Thursday by NBC/Marist shows Democratic candidate Tony Evers leading incumbent Governor Scott Walker by 10 points, just four weeks ahead of the November 6 election. The results vary sharply from a poll released earlier in the week by Marquette University Law School. That poll had the governor’s race in a statistical tie, although a Marquette poll two weeks earlier showed Evers leading Walker by 7 points.
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With just four weeks to go until the November 6 election, the latest Marquette University Law School poll has incumbent Governor Scott Walker with 47 percent support among likely voters, compared to 46 percent for Democrat Tony Evers and 5 percent for Libertarian Phil Anderson. The results amount to a statistical tie. In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Tammy Baldwin leads Republican Leah Vukmir, 53 percent to 43 percent.
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Wisconsin, Maine, and Minnesota are part of a movement following the educator-driven #RedForEd effort that has created a surge in political activism in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and North Dakota, according to an article on EducationVotes.org. The article quotes WEAC President Ron Martin, who observes that educators are getting out the vote “with an unprecedented level of engagement.” … “It’s an excitement that is new and different, even surpassing our activism in recent governor and recall elections,” Martin says.
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A new article from Mother Jones expertly summarizes the race for Wisconsin governor, pitting pro-public education candidate Tony Evers against Scott Walker, who began his term in 2011 by attacking and undermining the state’s public employees, including teachers and education support professionals, and then followed up with massive cuts to Wisconsin’s public schools.
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According to a new Reuters/Ipsos/University of Virginia Center for Politics poll released on Wednesday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers leads incumbent Governor Scott Walker by seven points, 50-43, among likely voters. Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin holds a 13-point lead over Republican state Senator Leah Vukmir among likely voters in the same poll, with 52 percent of support to Vukmir’s 39 percent.
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Education is front and center in the race for Wisconsin governor, and the PBS News Hour took a close look at the radically different approaches the two candidates – incumbent Scott Walker and State Superintendent Tony Evers – have on the subject. The report begins with Evers visiting a Milwaukee public school on the first day of school, while Walker is at a charter school in Waukesha. “Clearly, my lifelong journey has been all about public education and being a teacher and an administrator,” Evers says. “And, frankly, I have fought for our schools, instead of bringing them down.”
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State Superintendent Tony Evers has increased his lead over Scott Walker in the race for governor, according a new poll by the Marquette University Law School. Evers leads 49 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin leads her Republican opponent, Leah Vukmir, 53 percent to 42 percent.
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WEAC leaders and members kicked off the 2018 Election Season with a rally Saturday, September 15, in support of Tony Evers for Governor, Mandela Barnes for Lieutenant Governor, Josh Kaul for Attorney General, Sarah Godlewski for State Treasurer, Doug La Follette for Secretary of State, Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senate, and more. “We – and I – have been waiting for this day for a long, long time,” Evers said. “We’re going to take back control of our schools.” View slideshow.
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“Nothing you do this year will be more meaningful than casting a ballot in November. Consider Wisconsin, where turnout made all the difference in 2016. In Wisconsin. Trump didn’t do any better in 2016 than Mitt Romney did in 2012 — each won about 1.4 million votes. But Clinton is where the slippage occurred. She received 230,000 fewer votes than Obama in 2012 when he carried Wisconsin.”
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